Danny Henley: Embracing your spirit of anticipation

Monday

Apr 27, 2009 at 12:01 AMApr 27, 2009 at 2:31 PM

Anticipation is a wonderful part of the human spirit. It has to do with the possibilities that await us. The only down side that I have discovered in regard to anticipation is when it comes saddled with lofty expectations.

Danny Henley

As I write this week, it’s still in the 6 o’clock hour of a Saturday morning. It’s not unprecedented for me to be up this early on a day that’s typically dedicated to catching up on a little shut-eye. A couple of Saturdays ago I was already up and out of the house by this time in pursuit of a beautiful sunrise/moon set to photograph. But such is not the reason I am up so early on this particular day.

As occasionally happens, I fell asleep in the recliner Friday night. In such situations, my bride, Nancy, will gently try and encourage me to come to bed. However, on nights when I certifiably dead to the world, Nancy will turn off the TV, turn out the lights, cover me up and leave me where I lay.

On this occasion I woke up at 4 a.m. I remained in the recliner in the hope that I might be able to fall back to sleep. However, despite the fact no idiots were honking horns, no car stereos were booming, no one was yelling and no dogs were barking, I was still awake.

Shortly after hearing the clock chime five times, laying there with my eyes half open, I was startled by a bright flash that illuminated everything in the room for an instant.

“What the heck was that? Did I imagine it? Am I having a stroke?”

My confirmation that I’d actually seen something and wasn’t having a medical crisis came a few seconds later when a deep rumble of thunder was heard.

In a moment, I was out of the recliner, peering out a window, trying to gauge in the still-dark sky from which direction the flash emanated. Following another flash or two, I turned the TV on to The Weather Channel to see if a storm of sufficient energy was nearby to warrant my going out in an effort to photograph lightning.

Because it’s been months since my last lightning excursion, my level of anticipation has been slowly building as February turned into March and March transitioned into April.

Anticipation is a wonderful part of the human spirit. It has to do with the possibilities that await us.

The only down side that I have discovered in regard to anticipation is when it comes saddled with lofty expectations. Anticipation is knowing you have a couple of tickets in hand for an afternoon ballgame at Busch Stadium, or later this summer, Clemens Field. Expectations can spoil the outing if we allow our enjoyment of the outing to hinge on seeing our team win, our favorite player hit a homer or returning home with a foul ball.

Expectations can ruin just about anything a person might look forward to - shopping excursions, family gatherings, sports, holidays and vacations.

As I’ve grown up a little bit, I’ve learned to effectively separate anticipation and expectations. Now, I look forward with anticipation to my next chance to photograph lightning, but I don’t allow expectations to rise to unreasonable levels so that I’m dejected if I return home empty-handed from a lightning-chasing outing, as is frequently the case.

I am blessed to have different areas of anticipation in my life. In addition to the anticipation I feel every time I grab my camera for an outing of photographic fun, anticipation surrounds my job. Because no two days are ever alike, there’s always a sense of wonder about what that day will bring. And as much as I enjoy my job, I look forward with anticipation to returning home to Nancy and our daughter, Anna.

Anticipation is meant to be one of life’s blessing and not a curse. In fact, the curse would be a life that’s become so monotonous and tedious that the only thing one has to look forward to is its end.

Hannibal Courier-Post

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